EastFruit analysts draw attention to very high wholesale prices for potatoes, carrots and onions in Belarus that even continue to grow, despite the stocks in the country being at their maximum. At the same time, vegetable suppliers in the region are actively looking for contacts of importers of potatoes and other vegetables of the “borsch set”.
According to the monitoring of wholesale prices for vegetables and fruits in Belarus by EastFruit analysts, the price for potatoes increased by another 14% last week.
Thus, potato prices continue to break records of recent years for this period of the year, which contradicts the statement of the country’s authorities claiming that the potato harvest will increase in 2021. However, after our publication on Belarus importing potatoes during its own harvest for the first time, the Ministry of Agriculture of Belarus announced that the harvest will be “at the level of 2020”.
Obviously, market participants do not trust these statements, as potato prices in the country have risen again. Wholesale prices for potatoes in Belarus are now 78% higher than last year.
In addition, potatoes in Belarus are now more expensive than in other countries of the region, 40% more expensive than in Ukraine and 88% more expensive than in Poland.
Moreover, even in Moldova, which used to import large volumes of potatoes from Belarus, the prices are now much lower. Potatoes in Moldova are now 2.3 times cheaper than in Belarus. Therefore, now it is quite profitable to export Moldovan potatoes to Belarus!
Unfavorable weather this year, in particular the summer drought, had a negative impact on the harvest of potatoes, carrots and other vegetables, and rainy weather during the harvest aggravated the situation. This slowed down harvesting and reduced the quality of the vegetables and their suitability for long-term storage.
The price of carrots in Belarus has risen even more sharply than potatoes. Wholesale buyers of carrots pay for them twice as much as a year earlier.
Usually, carrot prices in Belarus decrease in the first half of September and then remain relatively stable. By the way, early carrots in Belarus this year cost much more than in previous years. This was due to their unprecedentedly high prices in Russia and the active supply of Belarusian carrots to this market. However, the prices for carrots in Belarus are now even higher than those in Russia by a third!
Ukraine has the lowest carrot prices in the region now. Therefore, it is Ukraine that is now actively supplying carrots to the Belarusian market. Also, carrots are imported to Belarus from Russia. It is also profitable for importers of Belarus to buy carrots in Poland, because they are 81% more expensive in Belarus now.
Onions in Belarus have risen in price less than other vegetables and this is the only vegetable that fell in price last week. Wholesale prices for onions in Belarus are now 45% higher than in 2020 at the same time and exactly twice as high as in 2019.
Unlike carrots and potatoes, conditions for growing onions are not suitable enough in Belarus. Therefore, the country often becomes a net importer of onions. At the moment, onion prices in Belarus are higher than in other countries of the regions, although both in Ukraine and in Russia they have risen comparing to last year.
Therefore, the gap in onion prices in the region is not as large as in potato and carrot prices, and its imports are not yet so attractive. This means that the prospects for growth in its prices are quite good now. After all, even Ukraine is now discussing the possibility of importing onions from Central Asia and has already started importing them from Moldova. Therefore, importers from Belarus should now take a closer look at onions from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. By the way, you can find suppliers in the largest fruit and vegetable trading group here.
Participants of the Belarusian vegetable market believe that potatoes, onions and carrots will continue to rise in price this season, because they consider production volumes to be insufficient and the quality of products low. They also emphasize that now mainly products not subject to long-term storage are offered on the market. As soon as their stocks are depleted, prices for all vegetables will rise again, traders say. Therefore, today’s price records for potatoes and root crops in Belarus are likely repeat soon.
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